The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) survey is the result of over 10 years of data, observing a single patch of sky roughly 1/15 the size of the full Moon (2 arcminutes, for the experts). The image encompasses 22.5 days worth of exposure time (though not all at once!), with the Hubble Space Telescope aimed at a dark spot in the constellation of Fornax. As with the earlier Hubble Deep Field (HDF) and Ultra Deep Field (HUDF)surveys, a lot of real science lies in this beautiful photo mosaic. Approximately 5,500 galaxies are within the field of view, with perhaps even more to be revealed via gravitational lensing. [Read more….]